Do a good preflight, guys & gals

[Bart]

"Again, I am sincerely asking: is this a hard to see attatchmment on a 44 and what does the RFM suggest as a preflight action?"

 

Yes. It's very difficult to see the rear servo but it can be seen just about, as for inspected well a lot depends on sunlight at the time, during the day i can often really struggle to see the attachement clearly and it is actually easier at night with a flashlight.

 

The other two servos may be possible to see with a mirror and a flash light but otherwise they are hidden away behind the aux fuel tank.

 

It's not the connection at the servo that came apart, it's where the push-pull tube connects to the lower swashplate (non-rotating) assembly that allegedly came apart. These connections are not covered by any fairings, however, they are not the easiest parts of the helicopter to pre-flight for a couple reasons.

 

The lower swashplate has four ball-link type connections on it. Looking from the top down, they are positioned at approximately 10,12,2 and 6 o'clock. In order to get your hands on these rod-ends and bolt assemblies one has to climb up the right (pilot) side of the aircraft, balance one knee on the roof hard point and reach up and around the front of the swashplate to feel the attachment and security of the 10 and 12 o'clock assemblies, while easily seeing and feeling the 2 and 6 o'clock assemblies. At least this is how I did my pre-flights on the 44.

 

As far as the rod ends go, the RFM says to check that they are "free without looseness". A good tug and a twist should confirm this most of the time, but sometimes there is a little bit of pressure on the swashplate making those little buggers hard to twist when you can only get a couple fingers on them...a little common sense tells you they are still fine.

 

Regarding the bolt assemblies, the RFM says to "verify that all fasteners are tight". Anyone with even the slightest bit of mechanical aptitude could tell you that a nut fastened to a bolt with a wrench even with the least bit of torque imaginable would be next to impossible to remove by hand...especially the self-locking nuts used in this application. So to "verify that all fasteners are tight" means more tugging and twisting (in moderation of course) just to see if anything starts moving that shouldn't be moving.

 

I don't normally get involved in most of these discussions (I really hate typing) but this topic hits pretty close to home as I was the CFI involved in the similar accident that happened in Gustine, CA almost 2 years ago. It's really a miracle that I am still around to write this post.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=LAX05LA164&rpt=fa

 

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the two pilots involved in the latest accident, they were not as fortunate as my student and I. I didn't know them, and it's not my place to pass judgement about what happened. I just hope we can learn something from this tragedy and prevent it from happening again.

 

Aaron

[C of G]

Bart,

 

Thanks for your reply. I read the NTSB report for your incident and noticed the verbage that you reposted here. I am still not sure, based on the recent NTSB report (from Jax) wether the control tube came apart at the sawshplate or the servo. I did pick up that it was the two front assemblies, though. Thanks again. (I also hate typing, and I'm always impressed by those who do it well.)

[PhilJ]

I am led to believe that it was at the servos where the problem was.

[Tenacious T]

That's number 2 - Take a look at Gustine California R44 - Also Silver State

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=2...00675&key=1

 

The operator of N144SM in Gustine is Helimark LLC, where did you get Silver State?

[500E]

The 1st. post by poge links to SS NTSB report

The post by rororwish links to Gustine NTSB report bart was CFI that had the real scary ride and walked away

Please read the whole post not just part

[Guest pokey]

a loose nut is a loose nut, whether you can see it on a preflight or not. There are various locking devices to prevent loose nuts. The ones i like best are the nylock castle nuts ( which cost about a dollar apiece !! ) WITH a properly bent cotter pin. ( there is a 'lost' art to bending a cotter pin) I, at times have taken the better part of a day to properly bend cotter pins in a control system that do very important functions, ie: they are tight w/ no chance of vibration & causing wear thru the pin & eventually falling out; they are bent to cause no physical injury to the mechanic/pilot upon any sort of contact--------Anyone ever get their skin ripped open on a preflight from a 'snag' with an improperly bent cotter pin? ,,, if so? find out who the mechanic was & point it out to them. My whole point being, the best way to prevent loose nuts/bolts costs more $$ & time than the industry 'thinks' they can afford? Palnuts, nylon locknuts, even hi-temperature locknuts doNOT belong in a helicopter control system, & a few other places too.

 

Just to give you a bit more 'food for thought' Do you realize that the connecting rod bolts in your car have no locking device whatsoever, but in your piston aircraft engine they have cotter pins? who removes their oil pan on a preflight OR a sunday afternoon drive?

 

Last but not least, mechanical failures & mechanical oversites WILL & do happen, lets ALL do our best to keep an eye on one another

[tboy]

The end of the control tube that came loose is the lower end which is covered by the mast fairing. You can not see these bolts and nuts without taking off the fairing.

Troy

[Pogue]

The end of the control tube that came loose is the lower end which is covered by the mast fairing. You can not see these bolts and nuts without taking off the fairing.

Troy

Thanks, Troy, I finally got to check it out yesterday afternoon and you're right. I'm not even sure if you could feel any excess looseness when checking the upper connections - I don't think you'd have enough leverage.

[tboy]

Agreed, I don't think you could feel any looseness of the bottom ends from the exposed tops. We have a 44 waiting on new blades. The mechanic has the mast fairing (cowling) depends on who you talk to for the name of the cover around the mast. Anyway, the fairing is taken off and I am getting a good look at it all. You really have to trust your mechanic on this one.

Troy

[gmsemel]

Just a plain mess no matter how you slice it. The Tort lawyers are going to go hog wild over this one. The problem here is that unless you have seen it before, most likly you would never catch it in a pre flight. And let face it in flight training and in other flight operations you may not have all the time in the world to do other than a walk around. All I can say is get to know the guy who is wrenching your machine. And the guy who is over seeing his or her work. This all comes down to about two dollars worth of proper parts and maybe 30 min worth of skilled work. Chump change if you ask me. And now look at what its going to cost, its going to cost us all in the long run thru higher insurnace costs. This one is going to get ugly besides being ugly already.

Edited April 11, 2007 by gmsemel

[The_Sandman]

Either way, every time I touch a bird I want to learn more about it.

 

OK....cool, so it's not just me. It's almost embarrasing to admit my love for these things. That statement says it all and sums up my feelings as well.

 

 

BACK ON TOPIC: My very first flight in a heli was my first lesson. R44. My instructor was 23yrs old....and he said something that I have never forgotton:

 

"i'm just going thru the checklist because your here, it's your first lesson and all....check, check, check.....ok. let's go...." as he fires up the magneto

 

ALRIGHTYTHEN......

 

 

I'm a once, twice and three times kinda guy myself. If it works for NASA then tripple redundancy is my motto. I have 3....THREE pairs of glasses I take up on every flight.

 

Primary pair: OK, opps....dropped/smashed......

 

SECONDARY PAIR: Whoosh, out the window they go, gust of wind. Freak accident. OK, I have these readily available for a tactical reload. FAST ACCESS.

 

LAST PAIR: OK somehow I messed up real bad or went severly retarded....once I whip these babies out, i'm thinking it's time to land and cut my losses.

 

I jest a bit here to illustrate how anal you can get with this idea.....but I swear, one day, the freak impossible will happen and you will be so damn proud of yourself when you save the day or just your life because of it.

 

That's why I like to carry a cigar as well, to celibrate life after such an incident.

 

This applies to everything I do.....not just flying. It has served me well. My wife makes fun of it.....but many times we have just stared at each other as I light my cigar and smile........

 

Cubans.

 

 

S

[Linc]

Late to the discussion because it was a Robbie thread and I try to stay away, lest I be labeled "anti-Robbie". However, the issue isn't just a Robbie thing, its a check and balance issue. The mechanic does the work, someone has to check on it.

 

The military has learned this and has a detailed process to track which parts are removed and replaced and reinstalled and what torque values are used; and it creates a detailed record of the maintenance. An incomplete record is treated as incomplete maintenance. Still, even after the mechanic is done, and sometimes throughout the process, an inspector conducts Quality Control inspections to make sure the hardware is serviceable and assembled correctly.

 

Is the civilian maintenance completed similarly or is there no check and balance system until the pilot looks at the aircraft?

 

For pilots, some recommendations.

 

Have a set pattern around the aircraft. Ours is prescribed by the checklist, but if it wasn't, I would still do it that way.

 

I'm not supposed to, but I memorized the checks. Why? Because our version of a POH has a more detailed list than my checklist, things I'm supposed to know to check. So, to know those steps or items that aren't clearly delineated in my checklist, I have to know what steps they are included in.

 

"Look where you touch." If you didn't touch it, you didn't look at it. There are exceptions, but they should be minimized as much as possible. And always touch and do everything the same way. If you do that, omissions, things you forget to do, will give you that "uneasy" feeling. You will go back and doublecheck an area until you've looked at it and it feels "right" as well as looks right.

 

Slow down. A rushed preflight, while it may get you in the air quicker, can always take you out of the air just as quick because you missed something and now you encounter the mechanical problem in the air rather than during a preflight.

 

If you miss a step, go back to the last step you can positively remember checking. This one is handed down to me from my father, who is an old pilot, and it has served me well in catching items I would have otherwise missed.

 

"Don't put your horse away wet!" I remembered reading that as a boy in the book Black Beauty, and the horse almost died because the boy didn't remember to abide by that rule. When I joined the military aviation community, I was taught that very same thing. Don't just shut down and walk away. The maxim that goes along with that is, "Your postflight should be as good as your preflight." That is the pilot making sure that nothing changed mechanically during the flight or because of the flight (landing damage, tree strike, etc.). It helps maintenance identify faults that ground the aircraft for maintenance before the aircraft is issued to someone else, and it potentially saves lives if the next pilot isn't as thorough on their preflight.

 

Trust no one. At least when it comes to them NOT making a mistake. There is an inherent amount of trust to strapping on a machine that is going to lift you a couple to thousands of feet off the ground and propel you at faster than highway speeds, and it extends to the mechanic who works on the machine and the other pilots you may fly with, but it should not extend so far that any of them fall into the category of "infallible", unable to make a mistake. Sometimes, a little distrust can be a good thing when someone's (my) life is in the balance.

 

These are my suggestions. Lessons learned from pilots who were older and with more experience than me and a couple learned as I went along. If something of this kind happens to me, you can be sure it will be because I have violated one of my own suggestions.